Workers and Oshya:de, together, disappeared into the forests of Ganá:yeht. They broke off from the sandstone tower and from Amoeboy's commune, together as one melting into the natural environment of the plane. Not a few of them were fearful of the warbird in the sky, and what it might do, and thus they returned to Mt. Redress to take up arms against the High Federation.
Rainbowfish was one of them. He was packing his bags when Lunus Oculus walked into his room in the sandstone tower. He glanced up at her, producing a coin from his pocket.
“Heads, or tails?” he asked.
“Heads,” Lunus Oculus said.
Rainbowfish flipped the coin, and it landed tails. At once, a scale began to grow out of his shoulder, shimmering and iridescent as the rest of them.
“You're leaving,” Lunus Oculus said.
“The Shadow of the Giant put out a general call,” Rainbowfish said, “All Warriors, protesting or not, were to report to him at once. No hard feelings, and any act of protest would be pardoned.”
“What about us?” Lunus Oculus said, “What about the Oshya:de?”
Rainbowfish stopped packing, sighing. He turned to her, bag in hand, and for a moment seemed to be at a loss for words.
“I do understand the Oshya:de and their plight,” Rainbowfish said.
“So, you go right back to the people who put them in their situation,” Lunus Oculus said.
“Let me finish,” Rainbowfish said, and for a moment his voice shivered, “Listen. Listen, please, Lune. The High Federation's here. There's no way off of the plane.”
“I understand that,” Lunus Oculus said, “But that's certainly no reason to-”
“I said, let me finish,” Rainbowfish said, “Here's how I see it. We have to unify. Be a nation once more, just for a little while. Remove the threat of the High Federation, completely, from New... From Ganá:yeht.”
He took a shuddering breath, his very body betraying his anxiety.
“The conversations about the Oshya:de, and about this plane, cannot happen with the High Federation here,” he said, “And, I feel like I will be of better use helping repel the High Federation.”
“You're scared,” Lunus Oculus said.
“We're all fucking scared,” Rainbowfish said, “That damn warbird in the sky, it's like a noose around my neck.”
He rubbed his throat.
“Once... If, we manage to get the High Federation to leave, I'll be in a position where I'd be able to leak information to the others. I'm still on your side, Lunus.”
Lunus Oculus did not reply. A mixture of betrayal and sadness mixed in her burning orange eyes.
Then, shaking her head, she moved out of the way, so her old friend could walk through the door.
“Go,” she said, “...I'll see you when we dream again.”
Rainbowfish nodded at this. And he walked out. Down the stairs. And while the other Workers, and those Warriors who were, perhaps, not as cowardly as him, or perhaps stupider than him, trailed north and east and west into the forests, Rainbowfish went south.
To Mt. Redress, and Luminary.
***
Brother and sister separated apart.
Hadawa'ko took a band of his warriors, his closests of friends, and together as one they went northwards. Only a single metahuman accompanied them. Stepping Stone had broken off parts of his body, shards of bismuth here and there, and he handed them out to a few other groups. He could feel them, spread across Ganá:yeht as they disappeared into the forest. They shook, and he had a rudimentary communication system, based on vibrations, with a few of his friends who had gone with the others. He was the nexus of communication for his group, which included several other bands of Oshya:de warriors, and the metahumans accompanying them.
“Looks like Scellar and the others have made it to their assigned point,” Stepping Stone said, “They're... setting up a raid on one of the granaries under Luminary's control.”
“Good,” Hadawa'ko said, “Scellar, what is their power?”
“They have multiple arms,” Stepping Stone said, “Each one different from the other. Scaled. Feathered. Furred.”
“They can hold many weapons, then,” Hadawa'ko said.
“Correct,” Stepping Stone said, “He failed his Warrior test, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what to do in a scrap.”
“And do you?” Hadawa'ko said. He stopped trudging through the forest, turning to the stone-covered metahuman.
Stepping Stone nodded.
“I'm from a plane known as Tsaeyaru,” he said, “A demonic place, ruled over by the Church of Hope. There, metahumans are either demons, or weapons.”
“Or both,” Hadawa'ko said.
“Or both,” Stepping Stone said, “I had no choice but to fight. It is not a kind place.”
He became lost in his own memories for a few moments, hesitant, and for the briefest of moments, Hadawa'ko was sorry for his comment.
(Then he remembered why he was going north.)
“Tell me,” Hadawa'ko said, “How do you fight?”
“With weapons, mainly,” Stepping Stone said, “Swords and spears, mainly. But I am trained in gunplay. Barring all of this...”
He raised his fists.
“I make do.”
***
“We can't exactly make do with what we have,” Cobalt Joe said, “We're going to need something more than this, if we're going to survive what's coming.”
He was part of a group that went southwards. Closer to Mt. Redress, and all that was held within there. They hid out in parts of the forest surrounding Father Mountain that had escaped the worst of the Sovereign Melody's scourge upon the plane. Much of it was ash and the blackened skeletons of trees, and oftentimes Rohahes, who had joined Joseph's group, would stop and peer around him for a long time, before he would be pulled back by the others.
Glow led them to their makeshift home. A simple hole that led deep into the earth. They slopped through freezing ice waters, through a small tunnel with a roof only four feet above their heads, and into a cavern with an already lit fire. Glow cast a spell to dry their clothes, and they passed out food and ate while they planned.
From the Amber Foundation, it was Joe, Aldreia, Nasir, and Iandi. From the New Ludayans, Eksonis and Glow were joining them. The Oshya:de had sent Rohahes and two others from the Oshya:de, Okwaho and Shawatis. Okwaho was tall and older, and there was a way that he held his knives that impressed Cobalt Joe, for they reminded him of how Contort wielded his. Shawatis was wiry and thin, though all of the Oshya:de were after their time in the caves. But he carried himself well, and was well known as one of the best fighters in all of Ganá:yeht, a member of the Arrowmakers.
In truth, the Oshya:de had sent three of their finest for this upcoming mission, for it was considerably more dangerous than what the other groups were doing.
“Father Mountain,” Rohahes said, chewing on a piece of jerky at the fire, “It's smaller.”
They had seen the mountain, on their way southwards, before going down into the caves.
“Looks like Pauldros used much of its outer shell during the battle,” Eksonis said.
Rohahes was quiet at this. It was Shawatis who spoke up.
“They've carved him all up, haven't they?” he said.
“They have,” Cobalt Joe said, “Pauldros's power makes it easy, but there were quite a few crews inside carving it out, as well.”
He leaned forward.
“You know this job requires us to go inside. You're alright with that?”
The three Oshya:de grimaced.
“We want to be part of this fight,” Rohahes said, “And to do so, we must get the weapons required.”
“Alright,” Cobalt Joe said, and he turned to Eksonis, “Do you know where exactly their weapons caches are going to be stored?”
The reptilian metahuman thought, then pulled a face, and shrugged.
“When I worked down there, they kept everything down in storage,” he said, “It'll be deep within the earth, and swarming with guards.”
“They don't want us sneaking in, hmm?” Okwaho chuckled, “Don't want their own weapons suddenly turned against them?”
“Right,” Joe said, and despite himself, he smiled, “It's probably going to get violent.”
“We'll need to act quick,” Nasir said, “Hit them hard, and fast.”
“Why is Iandi here, then?” Aldreia said.
“He's got a stealth module,” Nasir said, “He'll be able to sneak in effectively.”
He tilted his head at the cleric.
“Why are you?”
“I can sneak!” Iandi said, “I can be real quiet!”
His voice boomed through the caverns. Aldreia scowled.
“We're going to fight metahumans,” she said, “I've done that before, on a couple of other jobs. Becenti said I was quick-witted enough to do that.”
“Alright, I’ll ask this,” Rohahes said, “What does fighting one of your kind entail?”
The metahumans in the group looked at Rohahes. The other Oshya:de were staring at them, Joseph realized.
“It's different, depending on who it is,” Joe said, “Each metahuman has a power, and with it, strengths and weaknesses.”
“I am aware of that,” Rohahes said, “What can we expect with those within Father Mountain?”
“Most of them will be Warriors,” Eksonis said, “With abilities deemed by the Council to be fit for direct combat. They look for that which can be used, alone, to harm another. Although, there are certain metahumans who would have abilities that would consign them to being Workers, but they proved their prowess with them to be considered Warriors.”
“Like Pocket,” Joe said, with a snap of the fingers, “She's got pocket dimensions all over her body, and most of what she carries is weaponry.”
“Aye,” Eksonis said, “I pray we don't run into her. Or Pigmalion. Or, gods forbid, the Shadow of the Giant.”
Joseph's brow furrowed, and he lapsed into silence as the others talked.
The Shadow of the Giant.
The Shadow's words still rang in his head.
He still had found no answer.
***
Becenti's group had to skirt around the Crystal Lake on their trek eastwards. They stuck to the forest, Oshya:de scouts flitting around a perimeter, a few getting within a hair's breadth of the home of the Warriors. Much of it was empty, they found, and a long line of Warriors were marching south, to Mt. Redress, in preparation for another attack from the High Federation.
“I heard them,” one of the Warriors said to Tekahentakwa, “A few of them were grumbling.”
“A lot of them are scared,” Becenti said, his arms crossed, “They've heard they're being called for war. With the bombshells surrounding your existence, I'm sure not a few of them have quite low morale.”
“Especially since we're cut off,” Lunus Oculus said, “We're like caged animals, and not a few of them should have figured that out by now. They’ll be… desperate.”
She lapsed into silence, staring at the ground. Rainbowfish’s return to Luminary’s side had still set her on edge.
“Indeed,” Becenti said. He said nothing else to that.
They forded across one of the rivers. One of the metahumans in their number, Wavemaker, parted the waters to allow them to pass. Moccasins and boots and clawed feet stepped into muck and mud and silt, but the group did this without complaint.
A good portion of the Oshya:de were here, though all of the Clan Mothers were separated from one another. Tekahentakwa had only Kehaulani, Becenti, and Lunus Oculus for company, as well as a scattering of her brother's warriors and miscellaneous members from Mountain Clan.
She watched the latter with a worrying gaze, as she watched her people climb up the river's steep banks. They were still, almost all of them, skeletal and thin, a result of their long starvation in the mountains. Even the warriors, who had been rationed out the greater portions on the journey, looked haggard and tired.
“Tell me something, Myron Becenti,” she said, “Do you think it is possible?”
“Is what possible?” Becenti asked.
“That we win.”
Becenti was quiet at this for a long time, watching the forest line, his cold eyes narrowing at every change in the wind.
“It is a long road,” he said, “And it is not a happy one.”
“But we win, yes?” Tekahentakwa said, “We earn our freedom.”
“...That remains to be seen,” he said, “I will be honest with you, Clan Mother. Our odds are not good.”
He looked at her.
“I made a contract with you, not because I think we would succeed, but because to do otherwise, to not help you, would be monstrous.”
“Monstrous?” Tekahentakwa said.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Yes,” Becenti said, “I was not, am not, spurred to do this because I think I will succeed. I do this because I must.”
He stopped for a second, listening to the sounds around them. His trained eyes continued to study the trees.
“We should tell people to keep quiet,” he said, “Warriors are about.”
***
“And so, Rainbowfish,” the Shadow of the Giant said, “You are hereby pardoned, of your crimes of insubordination and treason.”
Treason. So that was what they were calling it. That's what it had come to.
Rainbowfish stood tall, his back to the dozens of Warriors who had turned their backs on New Ludaya on the revelation of the Oshya:de. Many of them, like Rainbowfish, had returned. They were all deep in one of Pauldros's caves, images of great metahuman warriors, Epochians all, painted on the walls.
“I give you thanks,” Rainbowfish recited, “And I die for New Ludaya.”
“As must we all,” the Shadow of the Giant said, “Such is the price of nation.”
One of his globular, far-too-large eyes twitched.
“You may go. Molesque will assign your quarters.”
“Of course,” Rainbowfish said. He left the room. A few of the other Warriors considered his back, but they threw no barbs.
Not like the Warriors who shouldered him on the way through the mountain. Molesque simply snarled at him as he handed Rainbowfish the paper noting his assigned quarters. A few of them kept staring at Rainbowfish as he went past.
A few of them started to follow him, too. He kept an eye on them, his scales shimmering and reflecting the light of the torches that lined the walls. He only slightly relaxed when he made it to his room.
Six to a room, simple woolen cots. Like back in his army days.
But no one else had stopped by here save for Fractal. The young woman sat at the foot of one of the cots, her hands clasped together. She was wearing her orange sari still, a sign that she was ready for combat.
He had never asked her why this, specifically, and yet he was not one to judge what someone wore to war. He sat down at the opposite cot. She glanced up at him.
“Rainbowfish,” she said, “You've come back.”
“Yes,” Rainbowfish said, “The High Federation is here. It's only right.”
She let out a snort.
“Yes,” she said, “The time has come.”
There was a quiver in her voice, despite her bravado, the sneering grin painted on her face. Rainbowfish tilted his head.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
“Of course not,” she said.
Then her face fell.
“Of course not,” she repeated.
Like she would ever say it out loud. Rainbowfish nodded, accepting her answer, false as it was. He was more concerned with who else would come in.
He was not the most popular guy right now.
***
“This next part requires a degree of trust,” Eksonis said. He produced a simple burlap bag, opened it up, fished around its insides for a few moments. He pulled out a sword. A tin baseball bat. A basketball. Objects that should not have been able to fit inside.
“Enchanted,” Cobalt Joe said, “Right?”
“Correct,” Eksonis said, “It's quite comfortable.”
He presented the bag to Joseph.
“Get in.”
The three Oshya:de looked at the reptilian metahuman as though he'd grown a third eye.
“What is this?” Rohahes said.
“The bag is enchanted to be far larger on the inside, roughly the size of a small room,” Eksonis said, “It's also enchanted to bring in air from the outside, so you will not suffocate. Mt. Redr... Father Mountain, is crawling with Warriors. The less of us going in, the better.”
“I'll carry the bag,” Nasir said.
“You won't,” Eksonis said, “They'll be having magical sensors placed all over, most likely, and a bag of this variety will set off any alarms they may have.”
“Like my jacket,” Joe said, “It's enchanted to be as strong as armor.”
Eksonis fixed Joe with a look. With a sigh, the Amber Foundation took his jacket off, and put it in the bag.
“What do you propose, then?” Nasir said.
“One of us will sneak in, holding my arm,” Eksonis said, “My metahuman power allows me to teleport and reconnect with any of my limbs. I will hold the bag, you will sneak in with my arm, and I will teleport to it, and let the rest of us out.”
“Quite a bit of work,” Aldreia said.
“The less people going into the entrance, the better,” Eksonis said.
“I'll still take point,” Nasir said, “I have a good feel for the interior of the mountain. And I don't use magic.”
They nodded at this. Eksonis held up the bag, and Joe was the first to clamber in. He looked unsure as he put a foot through the bag, his leg sinking to the knee. The mouth of the bag opened wider, like a snake unhinging its jaw, and swallowed Joe up.
Then, sheepishly, Rohahes and Okwaho climbed inside. Shawatis gave Eksonis a suspicious look.
“No tricks,” he said.
“No tricks,” Eksonis said.
And Shawatis went inside.
Iandi was frowning at Nasir.
“Don't wanna go,” he said.
“No choice, kid,” Nasir said, “It won't be long.”
“In danger,” Iandi said.
“Yes, I will be,” Nasir said, “But nothing we haven't been through before. Remember Anumanae, with those ruby automatons?”
The Mark Eta thought on this for a second. Then nodded.
“It will be like that,” Nasir said, “I'll be careful.”
“Okay,” Iandi said, miserable. But he complied with his guildmate, forcing himself inside.
Aldreia took a deep breath.
“It won't... jostle, will it?” she said, “I've done this before, only it was a suitcase, and I had bruises all over my body by the time they let me out.”
“It won't,” Eksonis said, “I think.”
The cleric rolled her eyes.
“I'll take that, I suppose,” she said, “Not much of a choice, is there? With my magic, I'd be setting off every alarm in the mountain.”
And she clambered inside.
“Now comes the fun part,” Eksonis said, his voice tight.
“Glow isn't coming?” Nasir said.
He looked over to the moss-covered metahuman, who shook their head.
“Glow's not much of a fighter,” Eksonis said, “Not for this sort of job, anyway.”
But they were picking up the blade that Eksonis had taken out of the bag. It looked overlarge in their illuminated hands, but they took a seasoned stance. Eksonis swallowed, and Nasir noted that, despite being reptilian, the metahuman's scales were shining with sweat.
The tracker took a step back.
The blade came down. Cut off Eksonis's arm as though it were butter. For a moment, the metahuman gasped.
And then he let out a ragged scream. Breathed heavily, but the wound was already closing up on both ends.
Nasir picked up the arm. The fingers were twitching. Glow caught Eksonis as he collapsed, his breathing coming out quick and shallow. He laid him by the fire, and Eksonis curled up on himself.
“How do I know when to call you?” Nasir asked casually.
“He can still feel his hand,” Glow said, and they were holding Eksonis's head in their lap stroking his forehead, “Run a finger down his palm three times, and he will know.”
“Very well,” Nasir said. He picked up the hand, stuffed it into a bag. He held the bag secure, looking over what he had brought. A few knives. The bow, borrowed from the Arrowmakers, supple and strong.
Without another word, he stole away, upwards out of the cave, towards Father Mountain.
***
Surveying the mountain for potential, unused entrances proved to be a challenge. Nasir laid low, sneaking closer and closer to the stone, avoiding the obvious manmade ramps and staircases, for Warriors patrolling the mountain used them often. No, the parts of the mountain that Nasir wanted to go to were the natural caverns, the places that the New Ludayans had found and expanded on. There were a number of caves that pockmarked Father Mountain's body, but finding one that led into the inner workings of New Ludayan architecture was another matter.
But he found it, on the second attempt. The first had led to a dead end, and he had to wait some hours when a couple of New Ludayans wandered by, one made of glass and one with mewling warts on his arms. But the second, a small opening into the rock that he slipped into, led him through a shimmying downwards tunnel that sloped into one of the side halls. There were no guards down here, though he could hear footsteps stomping above, on the next floor. When Nasir peeked into one of the rooms, he saw sacks upon sacks of grain.
“Food storage,” he whispered, “Very well.”
He reached into his bag, found Eksonis's arm. Flipped it 'round, and stroked the metahuman's palm three times.
The hand twitched for a few moments, before the fingers curled and gave a thumbs up. Then the whole thing shook and green liquid leaked from its stump. Nasir took a step back as something grew from the hand, like a seed breaking into a root system. Green scales, followed by clothes and gasps of pain.
And Eksonis was kneeling beside him, his breathing heavy, the enchanted bag in hand. He looked around for a second.
“W-Where are we?” he said.
“One of the storage rooms,” Nasir replied.
Eksonis nodded, swallowed as though he were fighting the urge to retch. Nasir tilted his head.
“A painful ability,” he said.
“Yes,” Eksonis said, “I feel all of it. The pain from having lost a limb. And, oddly, I feel the pain in my hand as well.”
He stretched his now reunited arm.
“But enough of that. Let's get everyone out.”
He opened the bag.
Iandi all but jumped out of the bag. He looked haggard from his time inside, and Nasir patted his friend on the shoulder as Iandi gave him a sad look.
“Uncomfy,” he said, “Not comfy.”
“It wasn't, kid, but I'm proud of you,” Nasir said.
Cobalt Joe came up next, and helped the others pull themselves up from the inside. He looked around the room for a moment, resting a hand against one of the sacks of grain, which were stacked atop one another, a tower of burlap and harvest.
“Will the weapons depot be in here?” he asked, adjusting his jacket.
“Around here, I believe,” Eksonis recalled, “Let's get ready to split up.”
They nodded. Three groups. They passed out communicators. Iandi pressed a button on his arm, one that had been implanted directly into his skin, and his entire form wavered and shimmered. When he moved, he made no sound. It was eerie how good he was, as he disappeared from view and seemed to follow Nasir. An invisible man with the strength of a rhinoceros.
Aldreia, Joe, and Rohahes went together. Eksonis, Shawatis, and Okwaho a third group. They traveled together for a time, weaving through the stone halls, passing by multiple storage rooms, before they separated at a crossroads. Joe, Aldreia, and Rohahes went down one of the side passages. Eksonis, Shawatis, and Okwaho went up the stairs.
They had already lost sight of Nasir and Iandi. The tracker had completely disappeared.
…
…
“Trouble,” Aldreia whispered.
They ducked into one of the stone rooms, a room with multiple crates emblazoned with the Dorucanthos family crest. They heard stomping come down from the hall, and as they hid behind the crates and peeked out, they made out someone walking into the room. A being made of keratin, carrying one of the heavy crates, which it set down, robotically turning back around and leaving.
“That's...” Aldreia whispered.
She rose.
“Careful,” Joe hissed.
“That's...”
She made for the door, all sense of stealth forgotten. Joe's eyes widened, and he followed her, grabbing her wrist.
“Aldreia, wait,” he said.
“It's Melitta,” Aldreia said, “She's here.”
“Melitta...” Joseph racked his mind. Yes. The Dorucanthos. Aldreia’s… ‘friend,’ “You think she's going to be on our side?”
“I don't know,” Aldreia said, “But I'll talk with her. Get her to understand-”
“Not a good idea,” Joe said, “You know that.”
Aldreia shot him a mutinous look. Joe returned it, stood tall.
“Don't do it,” he said, “We're on the job. We can't risk it.”
“We're one of three teams,” Aldreia retorted, “If not us, then one of the others will find the weapons. But we're here for more than that, aren't we? Otherwise they wouldn't have sent so many of us.”
“Bullshit,” Joe said, “They threw bodies at this expecting some of us to go down.”
The cleric swore. But she remembered Becenti's conversation with her, nights and nights ago, when Joe and the others had disappeared. She couldn't let her heart rule her, not right now.
It was painful to not do so.
“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms, “But be careful, Joe. Melitta will be down here, I'm sure of it.”
“Right,” Joe said, “Leave her to me, then.”
There was a chilling effect to her words. For a moment, Aldreia's eyes widened in horror. Cobalt Joe's face was resolute as he signaled for Rohahes to get up, and follow him.
Then, she controlled herself.
It had come to that, hadn't it?
***
Eksonis, Shawatis, and Okwaho went up a flight of stairs, and then another. The two Oshya:de kept looking at the walls, Eksonis noted. Shawatis ran a hand against one of the stone doors, his brow furrowing in deep thought. They had never been inside Father Mountain, not like this, not carved and hewn, transformed from a myth into a storage room. The Settled Peace had ended the great wars that had devastated Ganá:yeht in the distant past, but even then, even when forests burned and mothers mourned their children, the possibility of Father Mountain being hollowed out was foreign to them.
(But, then, metahumans made the impossible, possible, did they not?)
They ducked into one of the rooms upon hearing movement from down the hall. A man in a laboratory coat over a series of bright purple sashes and robes, and crimson pantaloons. Lord Freak was looking this way and that, with one of the Warriors attending him.
“Still haven't found her,” the Warrior said, “No signs of her on this floor, either.”
“Are you quite sure?” Lord Freak said, “Or perhaps, you've found her, but she's made you forget.”
The Warrior went red in the face. Thundercloud brows crackled and popped in frustrated embarrassment.
“That was a distinct possibility,” they admitted, “We'll continue our search. Rest assured, we will find-”
“Bah!” Lord Freak said, “Don't bother. You're needed elsewhere. I suppose it will fall to me to find Memoire.”
The Warrior grimaced.
“Off you go, now,” Lord Freak said, and he smiled his shark-toothed smile, “Don't worry. I make my own fun.”
Hearing that made the three infiltrators' shiver. The Warrior walked away, and as he did so, Lord Freak reached into his robes, pulling free a small bottle.
And he turned.
And his smile widened, as he looked into the room.
“Don't act like I can't see you,” he said, “I have more eyes than what's on my face.”
***
They found Melitta in one of the other storage rooms. They, at least, found what they were looking for. The Dorucanthos's had been one of the primary arms dealers of New Ludaya. Quite a bit of capital had been devoted to the stockpile, to the acquisition of heavy arms and pistols, grenades and rocket launchers, various types of mines, some kinetic and some that used sound to shatter their victim's ribcage, others that blew apart upon contact, others that leaped into the air and exploded at the waist. Rayswords and rayshields, traditionally Fedtek riot gear, but to be used as shields for those metahumans who had come from medieval planes, strong enough to repel plasma fire. Sniper rifles and shotguns, discarded, experimental assault rifles that fired plasma in lines as opposed to globules. Ancient, scavenged plasma rifles, antique and boxy in appearance.
All of this, and more.
They were carried out by Melitta Dorucanthos's keratin soldiers. Like worker ants, they organized the storage rooms beneath Father Mountain, maintaining the food stores and categorizing the various weapons brought to the plane. They outright ignored Cobalt Joe, Aldreia, and Rohahes as they went down the halls towards the main weapons cache. Melitta had ordered them to organize, not to watch for danger.
For, even now, the thought of infiltrators this deep into the mountain was alien to her.
(But, then, metahumans made the impossible, possible, did they not?)
Cobalt Joe peeked into the room, an azure claw enveloping his hand. He would need to silence her, and quickly. The room she was in was the largest storage room yet, rows upon rows of boxes and crates, barrels and sacks, all of them filled to the brim with weapons. Melitta Dorucanthos was walking among them, occasionally opening up one of the crates, or fishing into the sacks and pulling out a grenade. She was holding a tablet, marking down each and every weapon. Her keratin soldiers weaved in and out of the rows, picking up crates, sometimes two at a time, and leaving the room with them.
To go upstairs, with the other Warriors.
“Joe,” Aldreia whispered.
He looked at her. There was a pleading look in the cleric's eyes.
“Please, Joe,” she said, “Just let me talk to her.”
Joe grimaced. He looked to Rohahes.
Who shrugged.
He was already unlooping his tomahawk.
“If it comes to it, we can be quick,” he said, “She'll be a distraction.”
Joe nodded.
“Alright,” he said to Aldreia, “Go.”
The cleric turned into the room. Walked slowly, noting that the keratin soldiers still didn't react to her presence. She snapped a finger, and a fire appeared in her hand, floating above her open palm.
“Melitta,” she said.
The rainbow-haired metahuman looked up at her. She was tired, Aldreia noted. Exhausted.
“Aldreia,” Melitta said, “Hello.”
The two looked at each other uncomfortably. Awkwardly.
“They...” Aldreia said, “They aren't making you work down here, all alone, are they?”
“Half of New Ludaya's rebelling, even with everything going on,” Melitta said, “Usually a few Workers are down here, too, but...”
She looked at the crates.
“My power reduces the workload it would take to organize everything and get it sent up top. Frees up Warriors who are otherwise needed. Needs must, you know?”
She let out a hoarse chuckle, before looking at Aldreia.
“You... You're with them, aren't you?” she said, “The other Workers. The... natives.”
Aldreia nodded.
“I am.”
The cleric bit her lip.
“You should join us,” she said, “You know this isn't right.”
But Melitta shook her head.
“No,” she said, “No, I'd like to, but...”
Aldreia wilted.
“You have your family to think of,” Melitta said.
The cleric saw, out of the corner of her eye, Joe and Rohahes sneaking into the room, splitting off so they could flank the Dorucanthos.
“Yeah,” Melitta said, “It's... I'm sorry, Aldreia. Truly, I am.”
“I understand,” Aldreia said.
“It's for my papa,” Melitta said, “My niece. Maybe once everything is over, we can talk to these... natives. Find some sort of understanding.”
The keratin soldiers had put down their crates. Were turning, as one, to look at Aldreia.
Whose eyes were narrowing.
(Whose heart was breaking.)
“Don't you fucking dare,” Aldreia said.
“No choice,” Melitta said, “I think I know why you're down here. You're arming the natives, aren't you? You know that will only cause more bloodshed. For everyone.”
She produced a whistle from her pocket.
“I can't have you do that,” she said.
She blew into the whistle.
And the cave became alive with violence.